


sherlock and watson

by fluttersandgirls



Category: The Dark Artifices Series - Cassandra Clare, The Infernal Devices Series - Cassandra Clare, The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Pining, Slow Burn, and angst!kit, but not really, kit just loves ty a lot like a lot okay, soft!ty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-04-23 18:05:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19156165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fluttersandgirls/pseuds/fluttersandgirls
Summary: "sherlock doesn't want to do things without watson."set at the end of QoAaD, before kit leaves with jem and tessa and ty actually gets to say goodbye. maybe even more than that who knows ;)





	sherlock and watson

**Author's Note:**

> so some stuff is not gonna make any sense because i wrote this at 12 am and 6 am after studying for 4 hours and sleeping for 4 hours (respectively), and i also just didn't want to put in the extra effort to make everything align with the books. have fun with this! (sorry it's bad, i was peer pressured into posting)

The sky was full of sparks—gold and blue and purple, glimmering like ardent fireflies as the wedding fireworks died away. They floated up from the beach to reach the level of the bluffs where Kit stood with Jem and Tessa on either side of him. The scene seemed as familiar to Kit as if from a dream that he had woken up from, or perhaps been rudely shaken out of. 

What convinced him it wasn’t a dream, however, was the figure splashing quietly in the bioluminescence of the ocean on a cool night, the air cutting shadows across his figures even as he seemed lit up from within. 

It must be the bioluminescence, Kit thought. Or perhaps Ty always had a glow of his own, like a soft moon on a warm night. 

He could feel his heartbeat, pulse racing, hands sweaty against his side. If he turned around now, Jem and Tessa would be waiting for him, ready to Portal him away at the snap of his fingers.

He silently, slowly, stepped off the side of the cliff.

*

Gravity overtook him for a few moments, before he plunged into the icy water with the feeling of his covers being thrown off his bed, of the way Ty’s eyes had looked after--but Kit had no time to think about that. He really had no time to do anything besides prevent himself from drowning. Surprisingly enough, the bottom of the ocean was not too far below his feet. He resurfaced seconds later, shaking his hair and scattering droplets of glass in the water, split haphazardly in shards of black and silver mirror. He swam to a place where his feet found the bottom of the shallows naturally, his mind unwillingly remembering the times Ty and he had walked in these same waters, searching for a certain warlock and trying to bring back a certain dead person. A certain dead person, who, currently, was dancing ethereally above the water, her feet barely skimming the surface, as if the ghost of Livia Blackthorn was not a curse or a mistake but a blessing from heaven. She was haloed in gentle silver and white, her brown hair drifting on the wind, barely distinguishable from the inky darkness of the sky. Kit couldn’t blame Ty for the way he stared at her, part love and part agonizing pain, as though he would tear out his soul so it could dance with her atop the waters. Instead, he just watched her with a wistful longing, tears like crystals atop his eyelashes. 

Kit paused before wading slowly from behind the rocky outcropping that hid him from Ty’s view. He barely felt the wet plaster of his clothes to his skin, or the wind off the ocean lightly tousling his hair, but he did shiver out of fear and nerves and yearning for a boy he thought he lost forever. For a second, Ty didn’t seem to notice him. He took another step, and then noticed that closer to the shore, the water beneath his feet glowed from within, with more than the light of the moon, with a thousand small pinpoints of light, like shimmering diamonds. He understood now why Ty would love the microscopic creatures so much--each one a mystery of its own, a glimmer of light that by itself would not be seen, but together brought a delicate radiance to the world beneath the surface of the water. As he lifted his gaze from the water, the first thought was that he was back in the forests of Idris, faced with the Riders of Mannan, and the white hot surge of power that ripped through his veins now surrounded him. Then, the world seemed to tilt as the beach and the sand and the water came rushing back at him, as he stepped through the ghost of Livia Blackthorn and felt both freezing fear and paralyzing love claw at his throat. He had never been more fascinated by Ty’s beauty.

Ty stared at him for several moments, eyes focused on a point below Kit’s right ear. He felt a pang of loss and guilt so heavy it almost swept him off his feet. Waves of hurt crashed into him, and he nearly staggered back, turned around and ran away. Ty, I love you, he choked back tears. I love you, Ty. He remembered the way his eyes had looked underneath the same moon so many miles away. Glassy, empty, blank. Ty, I--

Without realizing it, Kit had involuntarily moved closer. But he wasn’t surprised. Shade had been right about one thing. Kit was Ty’s shadow. The rest of the world couldn’t see how brightly he shone because they were too mesmerized by the sun. Only Kit knew the hope the moon brought to the night sky, when the sun faded away and monsters slunk through the shadows. He knew because--Ty was the night, the moon, the stars. Ty was Kit’s darkness and his light. 

Kit felt sand beneath his feet. He was only a few feet from Ty. He seemed bathed in liquid silver and crystal quartz, carved from precious rocks that sparkled underneath blue and white. His dark, soft hair like raven’s wings curled softly to kiss his neck, one strand settling on his left cheekbone, eyes a stormy gray swirling with smoke and ashes. The aftermath of a battle, Kit thought, and of course. Ty had battled more than any of them. What unsettled him and mesmerized him the most however, was his pale skin, like porcelain, so fragile and so beautiful, incandescent in the near darkness. Ty burned like a seraph blade, like a witchlight, like an angel surrounded by white, heavenly fire. 

Kit faintly wondered when he had started having these thoughts, and when he had started to suppress them. He wondered when he had fallen so irreversibly in love with this brilliant Blackthorn boy. Flashes of white-hot memory came back to him, searing images into his brain--watching Ty point up at the stars and tell him about supernovas, watching Ty brush his hair back from his face and pick up glittering shells twisted in complex, undefinable patterns, watching Ty’s hands spin and dance from Livvy’s locket to his earbuds to the cuff of his shirt sleeve.

Kit didn’t have time to wonder any further, or stand there in almost awkward silence, drinking in the presence of Ty before him as though he hadn’t seen him in years (it had felt like years). With one step forward, Ty was inches from his face. He still wasn’t looking at Kit, but he didn’t care. 

“Ty, I’m sorry,” Kit breathed shakily and let his eyes wander across his face. Now that they were closer, Kit could see the soft curves against the jagged landscape, could almost touch the pieces of him carved masterfully from the background of shadows and stone. The fireworks had faded, leaving the world in hues of gray and white and black. 

Kit finally chanced a glance at the gold locket resting in the hollow of Ty’s throat, and felt his gaze roam upward to his lips. He saw them turn upward into a crooked grin, all sharp edges, and then looked at his eyes. His eyes widened in shock. Ty was looking at him. Looking into his own eyes.

That was the last thing he saw before the kiss. 

*

It was like an explosion of color beneath the shades of the darkened world, like all the supernovas Ty had described in vivid detail while water swirled around their feet, like all the kisses Kit heard Clary and Jace boast about but infinitely better. He could taste the sweetness of black roses and felt the sting of the thorns, felt the fury of Ty’s fire and felt the piercing grief behind every night they had stayed up together. He felt all the shades of Ty’s life and felt his soul ebbing and swelling with the tide and the moon. He felt a burning desire ripple through his body, a desire to press his lips harder harder harder and drink in all that was Ty like a parched wanderer in his desert. He felt everything, even the pleasure that was more like pain.

He felt a half-strangled cry ripped from his mouth, quickly turning into a low moan as Ty’s fingers fluttered through his hair. Now he understood why Julian had always said Ty’s hands were butterflies--each touch was enough to drive him crazy, to make him tremble as his heart thundered against his ribcage. Each touch made him come alive, willing to do anything and everything for the broken boy who had healed a little rough at the edges. Another flash of pain and memory--Ty’s hands silhouetted against the ceiling of the Institute, slender fingers curving up to grasp his own. The first time he had spoken to Ty, when he had helped him up after he fell twenty feet from the training room rafters and couldn’t trust himself to stand without collapsing. Ty had been there. Ty had held on with fingers strong as steel. 

When they broke apart, gasping for air, Ty’s hair was ruffled and his lips swollen slightly, parted to draw in a breath. Kit felt a slight sense of pride for having caused the same effect on Ty as he had on him, his gray eyes almost obsidian, his cheeks flushed a pretty, pale pink. 

“I wanted to say goodbye,” Kit blurted out, and then silently cursed himself for speaking. They had just kissed like--kissed like what? Thinking about it made Kit’s head swim and his cheeks flush. He wouldn’t--no, couldn’t look at Ty.

“I know,” Ty said, simply. He smiled again, and Kit thought that if he continued to smile like that he might just have to kiss him again. “I knew you would come back.”

Although slightly offended that his obvious affection for Ty had been taken for granted, Kit refused to let it dampen the mood. Kit also thought that probably nothing could ever dampen the mood. He also thought that maybe, he would have to kiss Ty again. And again.

Wrenching his thoughts away from kissing Ty, and perhaps more dangerous territory, Kit smiled breathlessly at him. 

“I just was,” Kit glanced away. “I was ashamed of what happened in, in Idris. In the forest. I hadn’t been able to control myself--I thought that it was the only way to get you to stop, and in the end it didn’t work. I thought I ruined everything, I thought you hated me, because I couldn’t save you from yourself and I couldn’t save myself from you and I--” Kit was rambling. He was thankful that Ty shut him up, placing another kiss on the side of his lips. Kit was going to implode. He felt sparks running underneath his skin, and his fingers itched to touch Ty in places that would unlock his heart and soul. No, Kit thought sternly. No, not thinking about that right now.

“Kit, I know you’re sorry. And I forgive you. I’m still mad at you,” at this Kit looked away, shame crawling underneath his skin, “but I understand why you did what you did. You know me. I just need to--”

“To understand,” Kit finished, and slowly glanced up again. For the second time today, Kit found Ty’s eyes right in front of his own, his face mirrored in its depths. 

There was a comfortable silence before Ty said quietly, “I’m going to the Scholomance. Would you--” at this he shifted uncomfortably, “would you consider going with me? Or at least, to the Shadowhunter Academy?”

Kit glanced curiously at Ty. He seemed sincere in his words, but he couldn’t help a sliver of doubt from wiggling its way into his heart. Hesitantly, he asked, “Would you want me to be there? I don’t think I’ve proved to be a very good, well, friend, and well, Shadowhunter in general.”

“Kit, I think you’re the best Shadowhunter I’ve ever met. Next to Julian and Emma and Mark and Helen and Livvy. Probably Jace and Clary as well.”

Kit scowled, pretending to be hurt. “That’s basically all the Shadowhunters we know!”

Ty laughed, and Kit immediately tried to engrave it into his mind as a memory. It was like the sound of tinkling glass in the wind, like the smell of the salty ocean breeze, like the view of a thousand twinkling stars in the sky. “Oh, and maybe even Dru.”

Kit punched him softly in the shoulder. Ty just smiled, a smile that was all the Ty Kit had loved and would always love.

“You’re not a bad Shadowhunter, Kit Herondale. After all, Herondales have never been anything short of heroes.”

“Do you want me there because I might be a hero?” Kit asked, genuinely wanting to know. “I don’t even think I could pass as not being a villain. Maybe, a low-lying criminal. Maybe even just a juvenile delinquent. But a hero? I don’t think--”

“I don’t want you there because you might be a hero.” Ty thoughtfully lifted his head to look at the night sky. Kit hastily kept his gaze away from the smooth expanse of the skin of his neck, and the elegant curve of his collarbones beneath his plain T-shirt. He must’ve discarded his sweatshirt somewhere, Kit thought absentmindedly. There were places where his T-shirt had gotten damp, and Kit realized with a start that he was still soaked to the bone and probably had gotten Ty wet when he—when they kissed. He also realized that he’d never seen Ty normally without his sweatshirt on, and only once with only his T-shirt on, and never without his shirt-- But he couldn’t think about that. 

“Then, why?” Kit asked. Ty didn’t answer for awhile, instead working at the edge of his T-shirt with his fingers. Suddenly, Kit was struck with the urge to keep them here for awhile longer, to keep Ty away from leaving him, to keep himself away from returning to the security of a promised new life. Before he could reply, however, Ty abruptly slipped his phone out of his pocket, and in the same smooth motion, tossed it into the ocean water. It seemed to arc through the air in slow motion, the sides glinting in the moonlight, the last traces of their mistakes vanishing beneath the waters one last time.

Kit took a deep breath. Ty had thrown away the Black Volume, had accepted Livvy’s death. He suddenly felt the strongest, fiercest urge to wrap his arms around him and never let him go, never let him get hurt again. 

“Ty, I--”

“Because I love you.” Ty said, at the same time. They looked at each other, startled. Then, slowly, Ty grinned, a smile so bright Kit felt as though he would burst into flames.

“I love you too,” Kit said. Ty nodded like he knew, and finally understood.

“And besides,” Ty turned and looked back at the Institute. Back at Julian, Emma, Dru, Tavvy, Helen, Mark, Cristina, Kieran, Diego, Jaime, Jace, Clary, Isabelle, Simon, Magnus, Alec, and countless others. He looked back at the familiarity of his home, of his family, and of a life he used to live. And then he looked back at Kit, and at the still shimmering, barely visible ghost of Livvy.

“Sherlock doesn’t want to do things without Watson.”


End file.
